1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing control system of a semiconductor device or other industrial product and its data modifying method, and more particularly, to a manufacturing control system and data modifying method capable of easily changing a manufacturing process and manufacturing conditions in a manufacturing line for manufacturing various kinds of products.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a manufacturing control system for manufacturing a semiconductor device or other industrial product, there is a case in which the manufacturing process and condition may be modified because of a change in the design of a product to be manufactured, or the like. In conventional manufacturing control system for manufacturing various kinds of products, a system manager has to search for the data on the manufacturing process and condition to be modified for every item to be changed, in case of changing a manufacturing process and condition, thereafter executing the modification.
FIG. 6 is a high-level view showing modifications on the manufacturing processes and manufacturing conditions in a conventional manufacturing control system.
As shown in FIG. 6, the manufacturing control system 100 comprises a data base 20 storing a procedure table 21 capable of managing the sequence of manufacturing processes and conditions in every item of the industrial products to be manufactured. With reference to FIG. 6, the procedure tables 21 for three kinds of the products X, Y, and Z, are respectively provided in the data base 20. In the procedure table 21 of FIG. 6, the title of each manufacturing process is represented by an alphabet character and each manufacturing condition is represented by a numeral. The product "X" has the manufacturing processes in the following sequence; {A-B-C-D-E- . . . }, with the manufacturing condition (1) attached to the manufacturing process "A", (2) attached to "B", (3) attached to "C", (4) attached to "D", and (5) attached to "E". The above relationship is represented by {A(1)-B(2)-C(3)-D(4)-E(5)- . . . }. In the same way, the product "Y" has the manufacturing processes and conditions in the sequence of {A(6)-F(7)-C(8)-G(4)-E(10)- . . . }, and the product "Z" has the manufacturing processes and conditions in the sequence of {A(11)-D(4)-C(13)-E(14)-F(15)- . . . }.
In case of performing modifications such as deletion or addition of the data, a change in the manufacturing sequence, or the like by optionally designating a product, a manufacturing process, or a manufacturing condition, a system manager would search every procedure table 21 of all the products stored in the data base 20 for the objects to be modified, so to modify the data thereof properly in this manufacturing control system 100. When modifying content without designating a product, the objects to be modified are searched in all the procedure tables 21 of all products. The corresponding objects, if existing, are properly modified. A modify instruction to the data is given by, for example, an input of a command from the terminal of a work station 51 connected to the manufacturing control system 100 through a network line 52.
The number of the procedure tables 21 managed in the data base 20 becomes enormous corresponding to the increase in the number of the products to be manufactured, in the above described conventional manufacturing control system 100 having a manufacturing line for manufacturing hundreds of types of products. Accordingly, the above-mentioned modification by a system manager by searching every procedure table 21 in the data base 20 one by one, in changing the manufacturing process and condition, would require enormous working processes, with an increasing possibility of causing a data modification error.
The conventional method of changing a manufacturing condition in the above-mentioned manufacturing control system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 4-193462, "A Method of Setting Manufacturing Conditions". This method however, does not to decrease the working processes when changing a manufacturing process or a manufacturing condition, but makes a working terminal display the modified condition accurately when setting a condition in an actual work.
In the above described conventional manufacturing control system, the data modification by a system manager in every procedure table of each unit of a semiconductor device to be manufactured, in case of changing a manufacturing process, or a manufacturing condition of the industrial products, would require enormous working processes, thereby increasing the possibility of causing a data modification error.